SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES SPECIALIZATION

COURSE DESCRIPTION

WHat you will learn

• Increased knowledge on sustainable cities and communities.
• Deeper understanding of the relationship between urbanization, decarbonisation and sustainability.
• Improved critical thinking on the opportunities and challenges for sustainable cities and communities as engines for greening the economy.
• Expanded ability to use systems thinking to assess sustainable cities and communities.

About this Specialization

In this specialization you will learn how to drive change in cities and communities towards sustainable, climate friendly, just, healthy and prosperous futures, and you will boost your career with new knowledge, understanding and skills for navigating urban transformations. This specialisation brings together a series of cutting-edge courses with world-leading teachers on cities, communities, sustainability, governance and innovation.

This specialization is offered by the IIIEE at Lund University and the City Futures Academy – an online learning community on urban transformations. Our flagship course, Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities, is ranked in the Best Online Courses of All Time by Class Central. The ranking by Class Central contains 250 courses from 100 universities based on 170,000 reviews. Our specialisation builds on the success of the Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities course. 

A key approach embedded in the courses in this specialisation is the role of experimentation in urban transformations. In particular, urban living labs are highlighted as a means for catalysing change in cities and communities towards sustainable, climate friendly, just, healthy and prosperous futures. The experimentation within urban living labs offers the potential for accelerating transformations and systematic learning across urban and national contexts.

Applied Learning Project

Learners are introduced to key facts and insights about sustainable cities and communities as engines for greening the economy, then tasked with developing this understanding through readings and practice exercises that highlight the role of urban living labs in creating sustainable cities and communities. Specifically, you will learn: how to work with greening the economy through cities and communities; how to design and implement urban living labs for accelerating change in cities and communities; how to build resilience and create a host of benefits from nature-based solutions in cities and communities; and how to influence consumption patterns in cities and communities through sharing practices . Further documentaries and quizzes will provide you with critical thinking and a broader and deeper perspective that are essential to understanding and creating sustainable cities and communities.